Doctor insights on:
Kelp And Iodine For Thyroid

1

Pre-treatment:
You are on low iodinediet to keep normal iodine from competing with radio-iodine and interfering with the concentration of radio-iodine in the thyroid cancer.
Wish you good health.
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2

Many foods:
The us diet has adequate i levels both in the food and added as stabilizers in many foods and other products as toothpaste and shampoos. If you are hypothyroid you need thyroid hormone in this country.
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4

Used as treatment:
Your thyroid gland uses iodine to produce thyroid hormone. If you have an over-active thyroid gland, one option is to remove/destroy part of the gland. if radioacive iodine is given, the gland will take it up and will be damaged by the radiation, thus reducing the amount of hormone produced. after this occurs, some patients then have too little thyroid and need to take thyroid pills.
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7

It doesn't :
Thyroid hormone replacement with levothyroxine is the medication necessary to get thyroid function back to normal if hypothyroid. If you're iodine deficient that's a different story. If you're not iodine deficient and you take iodine, you may become hypothyroid. If thyroid function is normal then weight problem is not caused by an under active thyroid.
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8

Kelp and thyroid:
There is a lot of misinformation about the benefits of using iodine containing supplements and the thyroid. Though iodine is important in the creation of thyroid hormoneiodine deficiency in the US is rare. I have seen more thyroid problems in patients taking kelp because of the high iodine content. In some people too much iodine can cause either over active or under active thyroid problems
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9

To some extent:
If a goiter is due to primary hypothyroidism then levothyroxine allows TSH to come down thereby removing one source of goiter. However, patients with hashimoto's also have lymphocytic infiltration of the gland which contributes to goiter development also. That takes time to go down. We see this in patients with nl thyroid function also. Grave's antibodies stimulate thyroid growth mimicking tsh.
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10

YES:
An uptake value will be established.
Uptake can be low, normal, or high.
Scan will be diagnostic if enough iodine localizes in the thyroid gland.
Large amounts of stable iodine from iodized salt and ocean seafood can compete with radiodine and decrease uptake.
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12

T3 (liothyronine) and T4:
t3 (liothyronine) thyroid is active thyroid. T4 thyroid converts to t3 (liothyronine). T3 (liothyronine) gets metabolized fast. High t3 (liothyronine) will suppress tsh. TSH stimulates the thyroid to make t4 and t3 (liothyronine). For some people armour thyroid is good. For some it has a little too much t3 (liothyronine). There is medicine that is all t3 (liothyronine) and all t4. I like armour thyroid. T4 is popular.
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13

Iodine supplements usually aren't necessary if you live in the United States or in most developed countries:
Some alternative medicine practitioners recommend iodine tablets or kelp supplements — which are high in iodine — for people with hypothyroidism. It is true that iodine deficiency can cause hypothyroidism. But iodine deficiency is rare in the United States and other developed countries since the addition of iodine to salt (iodized salt) and other foods. If iodine deficiency isn't the cause of hypothyroidism, then iodine supplements provide no benefit and should not be used. In fact, for some people with abnormal thyroid glands, too much iodine can cause or worsen hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism can be safely and effectively treated with the synthetic thyroid hormonelevothyroxine (Synthroid, Levothroid, others).
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14

Not iodine deficient:
Hi. No one in America is iodine deficient. If you're hypothyroid, it's because of autoimmune destruction of the gland (assuming you haven't had thyroid surgery). Giving more iodine when you're already replete will not help. Is that TSH on l-thyroxine? You need a dose increase if it is. Take your l-thyroxine, and don't worry about the iodine. Good luck!
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16

Not good idea:
There is a lot of iodine in a normal diet. Extra iodine will not help your hashimotos thyroid. Hashimotos is an autoimmune disorder, and iodine will not affect the anti thyroid antibodies. In fact, iodine can make you either hyper- or hypothyroid, paradoxically.
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17

Not the best:
All of the major professional societies for thyroid specialists, the endocrine society, the american thyroid association, and the american association of clinical endocrinologists have issued formal statements indicating that levothyroxine is the best choice for most patients. Both armour and thyrolar (thyroxine and liothyronine) provide too much T3 relative to t4, making it very difficult to keep tsh, free T4 & T3 normal.
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18

There are:
Certain thyroid conditions that can develop into an overactive thyroid with ingesting of very large amounts of iodine, but it is uncommon except when you get iodine contrast intravenously.
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20

Preparation:
Some diagnostic centers ask patients to undergo a 2 week low-iodinediet prior to a thyroid uptake and scan. This is because the study uses radioactive iodine (i-123 or low i-131) for the test. The iodine contained in food (seafood, table salt, etc.) may compete with the iodine used for the study, and thus results may be biased.Ideally, for the study your thyroid gland should be "hungry" for iodine.
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22

Normal Blood Test?:
If your blood test for thyoid disease, which includes tsh, free T4 and t3 (liothyronine) is normal, so what is the issue with your thyroid.
Taking vitamins and iodine is not going to help.Whatever your issues are, you should discuss with your doctor.
Do you have a goiter, nodule?
See your doctor with your concerns.
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23

Iodine does that:
Iodine is infamous for causing rashes. Your physician is familiar with this, and can tell whether this is one of the iodine rashes, or whether you need to look for another cause. A more important question -- how do you feel? As a pathologist, i'm always remind people, "don't treat the lab values." best wishes.
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24

Low TSH:
A low TSH with normal T3 and free T4 is c/w subclinical hyperthyroidism. In a young person (esp a woman), it could be subclinical Graves disease. Suggest seeing an Endocrinologist. Check antithyroid antibodies (thyroid receptor AB, TPO). If no symptoms, it may not need treatment now. Iodine may only make it worse (it will "feed the beast").
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26

Label:
Check the label on the package it should give you an estimate. Since supplements such as this are not FDA regulated you never really know what is in them. Kelp is another name for seaweed. A good source of iodine.
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28

Kelp and thyroid:
There is a lot of misinformation about the benefits of using iodine containing supplements and the thyroid. Though iodine is important in the creation of thyroid hormoneiodine deficiency in the US is rare. I have seen more thyroid problems in patients taking kelp because of the high iodine content. In some people too much iodine can cause either over active or under active thyroid problems
...Read more

29

Preparation:
Some diagnostic centers ask patients to undergo a 2 week low-iodinediet prior to a thyroid uptake and scan. This is because the study uses radioactive iodine (i-123 or low i-131) for the test. The iodine contained in food (seafood, table salt, etc.) may compete with the iodine used for the study, and thus results may be biased.Ideally, for the study your thyroid gland should be "hungry" for iodine.
...Read more

30

Iodine Deficiency:
Iodine deficiency isn't seen much in the us because our salt is iodized to prevent that. Other foods also have iodine. Adding on more iodine when not deficient can actually make you more hypothyroid. Too much iodine will turn your thyroid off. Under most circumstances, levothyroxine is the only treatment hypothyroid patients need.
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35

No need to avoid :
The thyroid gland is the only organ in the body that uses dietary iodine, by using this element in synthesizing thyroid hormone. However, too much iodine intake causes the thyroid gland to stop release of thyroid hormone. This prevents high thyroid hormone levels in blood. If a person has no thyroid gland (after surgery or radio iodine), then they don't need to worry about too much iodine intake.
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37

RAI...:
Radioactiveiodine is used for many conditions such as graves disease, thyroid cancer, and hyperfunctioning/autonomous nodules. In each case, a particular dose of radioactive iodine is used to achieve the desired result. Each case is individual and will decide how much of the gland needs to be damaged.
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38

Improvement:
Radiation treatment is designed to render non-functional the hormone producing cells of the thyroid in cases of overactivity. You can expect to have an improvement in your symptoms and a feeling of well being. You probably will need to supplement your body with thyroid hormone to replace the loss from these cells that no longer work.
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39

2 weeks:
A low-iodinediet should usually be followed for 2 weeks prior to a thyroid whole-body scan. The rationale behind this is to reduce the chances of non-radiactive iodine (in food and table salt) to compete with the radioactive active iodine use for diagnosis (i-123) and treatment (i-131).
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